Affordable,

Sustainable, & Fair

Housing for All
2022 Impact Report

AB 2011 AB 2221 AB 2097 AB 2873 SB 886

cayimby.org
Letter
In our first 4 years, to end discriminatory Directors of Research
the world noticed our approvals for low- and Policy wrote
ambitious proposals; in income housing. numerous articles
2022, they recognized Phew! placed in national

from
we’re winning. In addition to these publications, sat for
important legislative high-profile interviews,
Matthew Yglesias,
victories, California and even wrote a

Brian
Noah Smith, and
book! Expect even
Binyamin Appelbaum YIMBY devoted
agree: California considerable resources more ambitious
to growing coalition research and policy
YIMBY’s strategy is
partnerships to programs next year.
working to end the
housing shortage! achieve even bigger Thanks for all of your
victories in 2023 support for helping
This year, we and beyond. Stay make 2022 another
Brian Hanlon
sponsored or tuned for the 2023- banner year. With your
CEO and Co-Founder
championed 2024 legislative help, we’ll send more,
California YIMBY
legislation that session as we work and bigger, [Victory
will legalize and with our partners Alert] emails next year!
accelerate mixed- in the Alliance for
income housing along Housing and Climate
commercial corridors, Solutions to better
end expensive and align our housing and
environmentally- climate goals with
destructive parking transformative land-
mandates, streamline use legislation.
student housing
construction, further California YIMBY’s
increase ADU home best-in-class
building, help diverse communications
contractors benefit operations were
from affordable augmented by stellar
housing construction, hires that lead our
and place a repeal research and policy
initiative on the ballot efforts. Our new
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2022: Affordable Legislative
Passed five bills to reduce barriers to

Climate-Friendly
homebuilding, better align housing and
climate policy, and deliver more of the
benefits of new housing to disadvantaged

Housing
communities.

Executive
Every one of our priority bills that passed Supported California’s Housing
policy committees passed the legislature Accountability Unit - which we helped
and was signed into law by the Governor. create last year - to hold scofflaw cities
accountable to housing law, including a
landmark investigation into San Francisco’s
housing approval system.

Coalitions
Expanded our coalitions to push major
housing legislation and shift the politics of
Sacramento.

Media
Earned extensive media coverage across the
state and in major national publications to
help pass our legislative agenda. Launched
a project to conduct more targeted
outreach in Los Angeles to build the reach
of pro-housing movement messaging.

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AB2011
“California YIMBY’s
support and advocacy
for AB 2011 was critical
for helping us pass this
bill.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks

AB 2011 allows for meet specified housing development,

ministerial, by- affordability, labor, and households on
right approval for environmental criteria. commercial corridors
affordable housing AB 2011 could impacted by the bill
on commercially- produce between would use 40% less
zoned lands, and 1.6 to 2.4 million water, drive 33% fewer
also allows such housing units, boost miles, and produce
approvals for mixed- local tax revenues, up to 45% fewer
income housing along and compared to greenhouse gas (GHG)
commercial corridors, typical greenfield emissions.*
as long as the projects

*UrbanFootprint, HDR/Calthorpe, Mapcraft Labs, and Economic & Planning Systems collaborated to evaluate the potential
outcomes and impacts of AB 2011’s commercial corridor and TOD provisions: https://urbanfootprint.com/ab2011-analysis/

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AB2097 Housing for people,
not cars
AB 2097 will reduce commercial buildings available land area – is
the cost of housing near transit. used for parking.**
while slashing the Parking mandates AB 2097 increases
pollution that causes increase vehicle housing choice and
climate change by ownership and reduce will make it easier to
eliminating expensive transit ridership.* provide lower-cost,
parking mandates (up Approximately 200 walkable- and transit-
to $75K per parking square miles of Los accessible housing
spot!) for homes and Angeles – 14% of the across the state.

*According to a UCSC study of San Francisco’s housing lottery.

**Studies show this is roughly 3.3 parking spaces per registered car.

“California YIMBY’s partnership was key

to finally passing this critical housing
and climate legislation. I look forward
to partnering with them on future bills
to expand access to affordable housing.
Assemblymember Laura Friedman
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 SB886

“California YIMBY
On average, 5% of UC expand their campuses. universities to build continues to double
students and 11% of CSU
students experience
But universities are
not building needed
climate-friendly
student housing faster
down on their mission
homelessness at some student housing fast and at lower cost of creating affordable
point during their enough. NIMBYs have by streamlining the and abundant housing
studies. In response used CEQA lawsuits to environmental review for all Californians. They
to this crisis, in 2021 block student housing process for housing on are a key partner in
the legislature passed
a historic investment
across the state – not
just in Berkeley.
university-owned land
that is neither at risk of
Sacramento.
of $2 billion in the UC fire, nor in a sensitive Senator Scott Wiener
SB 886 will allow
and CSU systems to habitat.

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 Doubling-down
AB2221 on ADUs
Over the past few ADUs now account for in existing law and
years, legislative 15% of homes built in removing arbitrary
reforms, including California and 25% of barriers that some
key bills sponsored by homes in Los Angeles. cities have imposed
California YIMBY, have AB 2221 accelerates on ADU development,
led to an explosion in ADU development by especially in
accessory dwelling clarifying ambiguities multifamily buildings.
unit (ADU) production.

Source: The Atlantic, “The Housing Revolution is Coming”

“ADUs are booming, helping more

Californians find affordable housing and
helping working families build wealth
while alleviating our housing crisis.
California YIMBY was a great partner this
year as we streamlined state law to make
ADUs available to more neighbors.
Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva
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AB2873 Everyone Should
Benefit from
Homebuilding in CA
We partnered with neighborhoods, to report if the firms
equity groups to benefit from the they contract with are
help all contractors, construction of owned and operated
including those affordable housing. by people of color,
who have long been AB 2873 requires women, or LGBTQ+
denied financing developers that receive people.
opportunities to state affordable
build homes in their housing dollars to

BIPOC Developer Fund

While still in the works, we’re excited about a social impact investment
fund that would help BIPOC developers receive construction loans to
build homes permitted by recent legislative wins. We’ve partnered with
California Community Builders and California Forward to develop this
fund and solicit investors. Stay tuned!
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SCA2

“Repealing Article 34
is an essential step
SCA 2 will place an neighborhoods veto without requiring
initiative on the ballot power over many expensive elections.
toward ending the
to repeal Article 34 types of affordable This process reform discriminatory policies
of the California housing, enabling will make it cheaper and practices that
Constitution. This ongoing segregation to build publicly- characterized California
discriminatory article and preventing funded affordable housing policy.
requires local votes housing from being housing projects, and
to approve “low-rent” built where it is save taxpayer dollars
California YIMBY’s work
housing. needed most. by eliminating red helped make sure
Originally passed in SCA 2 will empower tape and reducing voters can repeal it in
1950, Article 34 gives local governments spending on fees 2024.
to approve low- for consultants and
wealthy California Adam Briones, CEO, California
income housing lawyers. Community Builders
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Electing Housing Champions
With nearly a third Sacramento this year. Of the candidates These are strong built through our
of the legislature The California YIMBY we endorsed before housing candidates. endorsement process
turning over in 2022, it Victory Fund endorsed the primary (39 We don’t endorse and our existing
was critical to ensure housing champions in out of 42), 37 won in a race if we think network to help secure
that newly elected several key open seats their primary (94%). there isn’t a candidate powerful authors and
legislators would in the state legislature, Similarly, at least 39 worthy of YIMBY votes. generate support for
support a pro-housing with a particular focus of the 44 candidates We look forward our legislation and
agenda and help us on building power in we endorsed in the to leveraging the budget requests.
continue the policy Southern California. general were elected. relationships we’ve
success we had in

“California YIMBY saw the potential

in my candidacy back in the
primary. When others didn’t
believe I could win, they came in
and provided crucial support and
advice. Like many Angelenos, I have
experienced housing insecurity. I’m
excited to bring that experience to
Sacramento and to work together to
end California’s housing crisis.
Caroline Menjivar, Senator for the 20th District
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Building Power
in Coalition
Home Building Alliance (51 Members)
Business groups, affordable housers, policy shops, and other
influential organizations in Sacramento lobby together to
move votes.

Housing Working Group (40 Participants)

Racial and economic justice organizations, transit advocates,
and local YIMBY groups work together to advance racial
“I’ve worked for years to
equity and educate elected officials. protect nature and wildlife.
As an environmental
Alliance for Housing & Climate Solutions (34 Participants) leader, I believe equally in
Environmental conservation and pro-housing groups protecting people and our
collaborate to accelerate infill homebuilding while limiting communities to make sure
sprawl development in sensitive areas. housing is available and
affordable to all Californians.
Local Elected Official Working Group California YIMBY has been an
More than 20 local elected officials share best practices excellent partner in bringing
for housing policy and politics, provide feedback on state together environmentalists,
legislation, and engage their legislators to support our bills. climate leaders, and housing
advocates to tackle our
shared priorities.
Annie Notthoff
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Enforcing
Housing Law
We helped draft and think these offices are both
advocate for the creation of great examples of effective
the Housing Accountability government.
Unit (HAU) in 2021. California YIMBY also
We’re very excited to see collaborates with other
HAU collaborating with YIMBY groups in the
Attorney General Bonta’s Campaign for Fair Housing
Housing Strike Force. We Elements.

“We are deeply concerned about processes and political decision-

making in San Francisco that delay and impede the creation of housing
and want to understand why this is the case. We will be working with
the city to identify and clear roadblocks to construction of all types of
housing, and when we find policies and practices that violate or evade
state housing law, we will pursue those violations together with the
Attorney General’s Office. We expect the cooperation of San Francisco
in this effort.
HCD Director Gustavo Vasquez, in the agency’s release on San Francisco’s Housing Policy & Practice Review

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YIMBY Movement Building
We’ve created a statewide network of California YIMBY
teams, affiliated organizations, and community leaders.
Together we help educate and mobilize the public for local
and statewide advocacy, helping make policy together.
There are 27 California YIMBY Partners that have signed
an agreement to participate in our distributed organizing
model. Six more local YIMBY teams engage with our
distributed organizing model, but are not yet official
California YIMBY Partners.
During Lobby Week, we gathered hundreds of YIMBYs from
all over California and prepared them to make hard asks
of their legislators to pass housing legislation, including 35
total grassroots lobby meetings and 134 total attendees.
This includes new YIMBY teams created in East LA and Long
Beach.
Through our annual YIMBY Summit and our YIMBY
Legislation Strategy Group, we gathered input and
feedback from the movement to hone political strategy and YIMBYs meet to prepare for Lobby Week
legislation.
Our Rapid Response Team marshalled YIMBYs across the
state to contact legislators at critical moments to express
support for housing bills. We coordinate closely with authors
of the bills to make sure we target key committee hearings,
especially when NIMBY opposition is expected to turn out in
force.

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Winning the Narrative
2022 has been reporters and editors.
another banner year In addition to our
for California YIMBY’s press and related
communications activities, with support
efforts. We were from CZI, California
mentioned or quoted YIMBY completed a
in hundreds of pilot project to scope
original press stories, the media landscape
and additional news in Los Angeles and
coverage adopted identify opportunities
our framing after for a narrative shift on
discussions with housing.

In 2022 we achieved:
3,218 mentions in local, state, national and international media
765 stories quoting California YIMBY staff/leadership
PPIC poll on housing and related issues: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-24/californians-concerned-about-housing-affordability-poll-shows
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Writing the Narrative
Research Director Nolan Gray and Policy Director Ned Resnikoff don’t
just get quotes in the press - they write evidence-based articles to
persuade and inform.

Also, buy and read Nolan’s book, Arbitrary Lines!

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To Be
Continued:
Social
Housing in
California
AB 2053 would establish a new statewide
social housing program that would fund, build,

“We need all options on the table

and manage affordable housing for both rent
and homeownership.
While this bill did not make it out of the Senate
Governance & Finance Committee, we helped
to start the conversation about establishing to solve our housing crisis. Social
a public builder in California. Long term, we Housing will play an instrumental role
would like to see a public housing company
that can drive down housing construction
in tackling California’s housing crisis
costs while growing the labor force by by creating mixed-income, safe, and
engaging in counter-cyclical affordable dignified housing for all. We have the
housing production. Such a program could opportunity to reshape how we view
help scale modular fabrication and other more
affordable construction methods.
housing – not as a commodity, but a
fundamental human right.
Assemblymember Alex Lee
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17
Join Us To End
the Housing
Shortage & Build
a California For
Everyone.

cayimby.org